WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for the South Park Season 23 episode, "Turd Burglar."
South Park's 23rd season has been particularly political, tackling such issues as immigration and China's censorship, but still taking the time to target pop-culture powerhouses like Disney. With the series returning to satirizing the entertainment industry in the wake of the closing of Tegridy Farms, it takes aim at the popular sci-fi property Dune.
However, as South Park riffs on the 1984 movie and its Spice Melange, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker churn out the crappiest parody ever -- quite literally.
South Park gets back to basics in "Turd Burglar," with poop jokes, surpassing the time Randy Marsh tried to break the world record for "the biggest dump ever." Here, Kyle's mom, Sheila, has a fecal transplant following a bacterial infection, and bounces back stronger than anticipated. She's healthy, glowing and apparently in her prime, which makes the other women in town jealous. They want the poop too, and enlist Cartman, Stan and Kenny to steal the excrement for their own transplants, offering them such goodies as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in exchange.
The kids spot a business opportunity, and pretty soon, almost everyone in town wants in on their services. That leads to the boys discovering the best poop on the planet is actually New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, a six-time NFL champion; his poop can make a person virtually perfect. However, he's tired of people trying to steal his crap, and so he begins bottling it. The boys realize his secret chamber holds the Spice Melange all of the adults have been talking about.
In Dune, this spice was extracted from the ground, and it became a fundamental block of commerce and technology in the universe. It also played an important role in travel and cultural development, and was the most valuable commodity. On the planet Arrakis, it was produced deep beneath the sands, from the fungal excretions of sandtrout mixing with water to form a pre-spice mass. That mass was brought to the surface through an explosion of pressure, and under the intense heat and air of Arrakis, melange was refined. When the worms died, sandtrout were released into the sand, and the cycle of creation repeated.
When the boys on South Park inquired about the best poop, the adults' inner-monologues mentioned this Spice Melange -- and now they know exactly what it is, gaining clarity on Brady as the key to salvation.
Interestingly enough, Brady didn't reveal his chamber to them; it's actually Kyle who has a vision. And, much like one of the addicts from Dune, he confronts Brady and reveals the goods at the NFL star's mansion. It's then taken and processed en masse, with syringes and containers, before being injected into the butts of South Park's citizens who have fallen ill due to botched transplants.
Now, the spice has become a cure, and Brady actually saves the town with his generosity. Sheila patches things up with the other women, making light of the nasty situation and expressing thanks for the kids' detective work. However, by the time the episode ends, the boys aren't as excited, as there's nothing left to barter.
Starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park Season 23 airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on Comedy Central.